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"We have always repaired everything here ourselves," she told Spanish state television RTVE after being tracked down in the village.

The octogenarian is said to be very upset at all the attention after her botched repair job became public and made headlines across the world and insisted that she had not yet had a chance to finish the job.

"With nothing but good intentions I did what I believed was the right thing," the good Samaritan explained. "Besides, I hadn't finished it".

The image was painted by local artist Elias Garcia Martinez more than a century ago but had recently suffered surface damage due to damp conditions in the church.

A local councilor for culture called the amateur restoration "unspeakable" but conceded that it had been undertaken only out of concern for the fresco's condition.

"She is an elderly woman who has had a hard life and I think she acted with good intentions," said Juan Maria Ojeda. "Next week she has agreed to meet with a repairer to explain what kind of materials she used."

But he admitted the chances of reversing the damage were slim. "If we can't fix it, we will probably cover it over with a photograph of the original."

The family of the artist, Elias Garcia Martinez, who discovered the DIY restoration when they donated money towards its upkeep, are less forgiving.

"It was bad enough that she painted the tunic," said Teresa Garcia Blanc, a granddaughter of the artist.

"But the problem worsened when she started on the face because now the painting is completely destroyed."